In the Bible, the city of Babylon has its roots in the Tower of Babel. After the flood, when the earth was washed clean of sin, man once again became prideful and arrogant against God. They tried to build a tower that would reach into Heaven so that they could escape God’s wrath and be free to sin without punishment – this way if God sent another flood they would climb higher than the waters. The story of the Tower of Babel is found in Genesis 11 (King James Version):

1 And the whole earth was of one language, and of one speech.

2 And it came to pass, as they journeyed from the east, that they found a plain in the land of Shinar; and they dwelt there.

3 And they said one to another, Go to, let us make brick, and burn them thoroughly. And they had brick for stone, and slime had they for morter.

4 And they said, Go to, let us build us a city and a tower, whose top may reach unto heaven; and let us make us a name, lest we be scattered abroad upon the face of the whole earth.

5 And the Lord came down to see the city and the tower, which the children of men builded.

6 And the Lord said, Behold, the people is one, and they have all one language; and this they begin to do: and now nothing will be restrained from them, which they have imagined to do.

7 Go to, let us go down, and there confound their language, that they may not understand one another’s speech.

8 So the Lord scattered them abroad from thence upon the face of all the earth: and they left off to build the city.

9 Therefore is the name of it called Babel; because the Lord did there confound the language of all the earth: and from thence did the Lord scatter them abroad upon the face of all the earth.”

Whenever the Bible refers to Babylon, it associates that city with confusion, especially spiritual confusion. Because the Babylonians worshipped primarily the sun, Bible references to Babylon also associate it with false worship, false religion and false doctrine. Babylon is also considered to be the mother all kinds of spiritual “abominations” in the eyes of God: magic, divination, astrology, numerology, demon worship, human sacrifice, etc.

Babylon was a center of sun worship in the ancient world. Sun worship – which had originated in Egypt before Babylon – became widespread in antiquity. Pagan religions were very strong. They surrounded the children of Israel and needed to be driven from the Promised Land. Unfortunately, the Israelis compromised and allowed many of those peoples to remain inside their borders. This ultimately led to the people of Israel being so corrupted from inside their own land that they ended up being taken into captivity to Babylon itself under King Nebuchadnezzar.

The history of the Israeli infiltration by paganism is a precursor of what happened in Europe under the Roman Empire. Emperor Constantine, needing to blend or harmonize Christianity with paganism to integrate the Roman Empire into a cohesive whole, established Christianity as the official religion of Rome but merged into it numerous doctrines and practices from paganism. This is how Christmas began to be celebrated within the Church. Other visible changes were the change of the day of worship from Saturday to Sunday as well as changes to God’s Ten Commandments. Paganism, essentially centered on sun worship, perverted many of the authentic Christian doctrines and practices. In particular, idolatry – the worship of images and statues which is forbidden in God’s Ten Commandments – became embedded in the Roman Catholic tradition. This is evidenced in the purported “halos” which adorn the representations of the heads of the saints, the Virgin Mary and the child Jesus. These golden disks around their heads are not halos as we are led to believe, but sun disks, in honor of the sun deity. Sun worship is also the reason why the eucharist which the Catholic priest holds up when he officiates communion is a perfectly round disk.

Fast forward to Sukyo Mahikari and Omitama. Interesting that their “sacred talisman” is in fact a golden sun disk! Interesting that kumites wear it around their necks, an object they think is chained to them but in reality they are chained/bound to it. (It’s much easier to enter Mahikari than to leave!). Interesting that they teach that if you are not wearing Omitama you do not have divine protection. I believe that what is behind Sukyo Mahikari is sun worship in disguise. I believe that kumites are deceived: the divine light they believe they are giving and receiving is no more and no less than a representation of the sun’s rays, which in all pagan traditions is considered to be the life-giving god, source of nourishment and healing. I believe that the fear associated with not wearing Omitama is the fear associated with magic talismans, where the devotee loses his/her protection from evil spirits if the talisman is removed. This type of fear is grounded in magic and false worship, not in true religion. And who are these evil spirits if not demons?

The fallen angels who rebelled against the God of Israel, the God of Heaven and Earth and His Son Jesus Christ, are demons. They have been on this earth since its beginning 6000 years ago. Their agenda is to divert true worship away from the real God and to institute false worship so as to receive worship in His stead. They will use any form of deceit to implement their evil agenda.

The roots of Babylon are present in all false religions, ancient and modern. Mahikari is a false religion of our contemporary world, yet is deeply grounded in Babylonian tradition. Sadly, Kumite are not worshipping the real God, they are worshipping a counterfeit god. This is sad because many Kumite are earnest God seekers who have been misled.

In the endtime, the final great conflict that will bring earth’s history to a close revolves around true versus false worship. The Bible, in the Book of Revelation, has countless references to the issue of worship. In Chapter 13, it describes false worship, i.e. worship of Satan (the dragon) disguised as the beast:

And they worshipped the dragon (Satan) which gave power unto the beast: and they worshipped the beast, saying, Who is like unto the beast? who is able to make war with him? Rev. 13:4

And all that dwell upon the earth shall worship him (the devil), whose names are not written in the book of life of the Lamb slain from the foundation of the world. Rev. 13:8

And he exerciseth all the power of the first beast before him, and causeth the earth and them which dwell therein to worship the first beast, whose deadly wound was healed. Rev. 13:12

And he had power to give life unto the image of the beast, that the image of the beast should both speak, and cause that as many as would not worship the image of the beast should be killed. Rev. 13:15

In Revelation Chapter 14:6-12, the Three Angels’ Messages point us to true worship as we worship God, the Creator of Heaven and of Earth, and nothing or no one else (not the sun, which is a creation of the Creator).

6 And I saw another angel fly in the midst of heaven, having the everlasting gospel to preach unto them that dwell on the earth, and to every nation, and kindred, and tongue, and people,

7 Saying with a loud voice, Fear God, and give glory to him; for the hour of his judgment is come: and worship him that made heaven, and earth, and the sea, and the fountains of waters.

8 And there followed another angel, saying, Babylon is fallen, is fallen, that great city, because she made all nations drink of the wine of the wrath of her fornication. (Note: Babylon = Rome and/or any other system of false worship or false religion)

9 And the third angel followed them, saying with a loud voice, If any man worship the beast and his image, and receive his mark in his forehead, or in his hand,

10 The same shall drink of the wine of the wrath of God, which is poured out without mixture into the cup of his indignation; and he shall be tormented with fire and brimstone in the presence of the holy angels, and in the presence of the Lamb:

11 And the smoke of their torment ascendeth up for ever and ever: and they have no rest day nor night, who worship the beast and his image, and whosoever receiveth the mark of his name.

12 Here is the patience of the saints: here are they that keep the commandments of God, and the faith of Jesus.

Kumite, this is what the Lord God of Heaven and of Earth is saying to you:

And I heard another voice from heaven, saying, Come out of her (Babylon), my people, that ye be not partakers of her sins, and that ye receive not of her plagues. Rev. 18:4

As I was reading my bible this past week I came across a couple of passages which highlight the importance and the meaning of the right vs. the left. For example, in chapter 29 of the Book of Exodus, God gives Moses very specific instructions for the consecration of Aaron and his sons to be priests officiating in God’s sanctuary and tabernacle. Below is an excerpt:

“You shall also take the other ram, and Aaron and his sons shall put their hands on the head of the ram. Then you shall kill the ram, and take some of its blood and put it on the tip of the right ear of Aaron and on the tip of the right ear of his sons, on the thumb of their right hand and on the big toe of their right foot, and sprinkle the blood all around on the altar. And you shall take some of the blood that is on the altar, and some of the anointing oil, and sprinkle it on Aaron and on his garments, on his sons and on the garments of his sons with him; and he and his garments shall be hallowed, and his sons and his sons’ garments with him.” Exodus 29:19-21

The consecration of Aaron and his sons is consumated in the Book of Leviticus, where we read a similar account:

“Then Aaron and his sons laid their hands on the head of the ram, and Moses killed it. Also he took some of its blood and put it on the tip of Aaron’s right ear, on the thumb of his right hand, and on the big toe of his right foot. Then he brought Aaron’s sons. And Moses put some of the blood on the tips of their right ears, on the thumbs of their right hands, and on the big toes of their right feet. And Moses sprinkled the blood all around on the altar.” Leviticus 8:23-24

Why is this significant with regard to Mahikari? As I wrote in an earlier post, when receiving okiyome the kumite must place his/her hands in prayer and very deliberately place the left thumb over the right one. When kneeling in prayer before the altar or to give okiyome the big toe of the left foot must be crossed over the right foot. Is this a coincidence or perhaps the result of some Japanese cultural influence? I don’t think so. What I have observed since I left Mahikari is that Satan seeks to contradict God in even the smallest details. For each one of God’s laws, truths and symbols, Satan has at least one (and sometimes several) counterfeits. This detail of the left thumb and the left big toe is an evil counterfeit of the symbolism that God established for His holy sanctuary.